THE REVIVAL OF THE PAPACY (962-1056)
This Roman Empire (it did not receive its full title of Holy Roman
Empire until later) deserved the name Roman because it rested on the
Roman tradition of the political unity of the civilized world. This
tradition, by means of the ecclesiastical unity of Europe, had survived
the Barbarian invasions, had gained strength through Charlemagne's
Empire, and now joined together two nations so fundamentally different
as Germany and Italy. The Germans were big blond men, beer-drinkers,
huge eaters, rough, ill-mannered, arrogant, phlegmatic and brave; the
Italians were little, dark-skinned men, wine-drinkers, lettuce-eaters,
with pleasant manners, gesticulating, excitable, and unwarlike. Their
union affords the strongest testimony to the strength of the Roman
tradition. This ill-assorted pair, married in obedience to the will of
dead generations, could not live together in peace. The theory of a
world conjointly ruled by a supreme secular sovereign and a supreme
ecclesiastical sovereign could not be put into successful practice. The
Empire was German, the Papacy Italian, and by their very natures they
were antagonistic.
Otto's empire was by no means universal, but its suzerainty was
acknowledged by Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, Denmark, perhaps by Hungary,
and sometimes by France; and therefore, as eastern Europe was either
Greek or barbarian, Britain an island, and Spain practically Mohammedan,
it sustained fairly well the idea of a universal (_i. e._, European)
empire. The essential parts were Germany to give strength, and Italy to
give title and tradition. In theory the process of royal and Imperial
election and coronation was as follows. The German electors (the greater
nobles), whose number was not limited to seven for two centuries and
more, elected a king, who was crowned with a silver crown at Aachen,
and, by virtue of his coronation, received the title, King of the
Romans. This king then took the iron crown of Lombardy at Pavia, and
became King of Italy; and, when he received the gold Imperial crown from
the Pope at Rome, became Emperor. The election of the son of the late
Emperor to succeed was the custom, but was not obligatory. Germany was
not a strongly centralized state, but was composed of several dukedoms,
which often fell out among themselves. Italy was still less a political
unit. It had no marks of nationality, except its geographical position,
its ancient tradition, and a tardily forming language; but even this
_lingua volgare_, which in Otto's time began to have an Italian sound,
and to touch the degenerate written Latin with an Italian look, did not
prevail throughout the peninsula. In the south Greek was still spoken,
and the Holy Roman Empire never had more than the shadow of a title
south of Benevento till after Barbarossa's time. The Emperor's authority
rested at bottom on the German military power; and as this depended on
the obedience of wayward and jealous dukedoms, it was uncertain and
intermittent.
The Papacy was far more stable, for fundamentally it was a moral power,
and got its energy from men's consciences. It was far better organized
than the Empire. The ecclesiastical system spread all over Europe, into
every city, village, hamlet, and monastery; countries which reluctantly
acknowledged the suzerainty of the Empire, bowed unquestioningly to
papal rule. Moreover, the power of the Papacy did not merely consist in
spiritual weapons, terrible as the ban of excommunication was in those
days, but also in its ability to raise up enemies against its enemy, and
to put the cloak of piety over war and rebellion.
The ironical element in the situation was that the Empire itself lifted
the Papacy to the position in which it was able to turn and defy the
Empire, fight it, and finally destroy it. The Emperors, who entertained
no doubts that the Papacy was subject to them, that they were
responsible for its conduct and must secure the election of worthy
Popes, took the Papacy out of the hands of the Roman faction, purified
it, and appointed honest, capable, upright Popes.
A contemporary account of Otto's dealings with that young scamp, Pope
John XII, who in morals resembled his grandmother, Marozia, gives a good
picture of the nature of the benefits which the Empire conferred on the
Papacy: "While these things were taking place, the constellation of
Cancer, hot from the enkindling rays of Phoebus, kept the Emperor
away from the hills around Rome, but when the constellation of Virgo
returning brought back the pleasant season he went to Rome upon a secret
invitation from the Romans. But why should I say _secret_ when the
greater part of the nobility burst into the Castle of St. Paul and
invited the holy Emperor, and even gave hostages? The citizens received
the holy Emperor and all his men within the city, promised allegiance,
and took an oath that they would never elect a Pope, nor consecrate him,
without the consent and the sanction of the Lord Emperor Otto, Caesar,
Augustus, and of his son, King Otto.
"Three days later, at the request of the Roman bishops and people, there
was a great meeting in St. Peter's Church, and with the Emperor sat the
archbishops of Aquileia, Milan, and Ravenna, the archbishop of Saxony
[and many other Italian and German prelates]. When they were seated, and
silence made, the holy Emperor got up and said: 'How fit it would be
that in this distinguished and holy council our lord Pope John should be
present! But since he has refused to be of your company, we ask your
counsel, holy fathers, for you have the same interest as he.' Then the
Roman prelates, cardinals, priests, and deacons, and all the people
cried out: 'We are surprised that your reverend prudence should wish to
make us investigate that which is not hidden from the Iberians, the
Babylonians, nor the Indians. He [the Pope] is no longer one of that
kind, which come in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves;
he rages so openly, does his diabolical misdeeds so manifestly, that we
need not beat about the bush.' The Emperor answered: 'We deem it just
that the accusations should be stated one by one, and after that we will
take counsel together of what we ought to do.'
"Then Cardinal-priest Peter got up, and testified that he had seen the
Pope celebrate mass without communion. John, bishop of Narni, and John,
cardinal-deacon, declared that they had seen him ordain a deacon in a
stable, and not at the proper hour. Cardinal-deacon Benedict, with other
priests and deacons, said that they knew that he ordained bishops for
money, and that in the city of Todi he had ordained as bishop a boy ten
years old. They said it was not necessary to go into his sacrileges
because they had seen more such than could be reckoned. They said in
regard to his adulteries.... They said that he had publicly gone
a-hunting; that he had put out the eyes of his spiritual father,
Benedict, who died soon after in consequence; that he had mutilated and
killed John, cardinal-subdeacon; and they testified that he had set
buildings on fire, armed with helmet and breastplate, and girt with a
sword. All, priests and laymen, cried out that he had drunk a toast to
the devil. They said that while playing dice he had invoked the aid of
Jupiter, Venus, and other demons. They declared that he had not
celebrated matins, nor observed the canonical hours, and that he did not
cross himself.
"When the Emperor had heard all this, he bade me, Liutprand, bishop of
Cremona, interpret to the Romans, because they could not understand his
Saxon. Then he got up and said: 'It often happens, and we believe it
from our experience, that men in great place are slandered by the
envious, for a good man is disliked by bad men just as a bad man is
disliked by good men. And for this reason we entertain some doubts
concerning this accusation against the Pope, which Cardinal-deacon
Benedict has just read and made before you, uncertain whether it springs
from zeal for justice or from envy and impiety. Therefore with the
authority of the dignity granted to me, though unworthy, I beseech you
by that God, whom no man can deceive howsoever he may wish, and by His
holy mother, the Virgin Mary, and by the most precious body of the
prince of the Apostles, in whose Church we now are, that no accusation
be cast at our lord the Pope of faults which he has not committed and
which have not been seen by the most trustworthy men.'" The accusers
affirmed their charges on oath. Then the holy Synod said: "If it please
the holy Emperor let letters be sent to our lord the Pope, bidding him
come and clear himself of these charges." The wary John did not come,
but wrote: "I, Bishop John, servant of the servants of God, to all the
bishops. We have heard that you propose to elect another Pope. If you do
that, I excommunicate you in the name of Almighty God so that you shall
not have the right to ordain anybody, nor to celebrate mass."[8]
Nevertheless, John was deposed and a good Pope put in his stead.
Otto's successors, one after the other, followed his example, and
treated the Papacy as if it had been a German bishopric. The Emperors,
however, had work to do north of the Alps, and did not spend much time
in Rome, except Otto III, a romantic dreamer, who wished to live there;
and during their absence the turbulent Roman anti-imperial faction used
to seize the Papacy, just as Alberic had done, and put up worthless
Popes. In spite of them the Emperors' Popes raised the Papacy so high
that, as a matter of course, it became the head of the great
ecclesiastical reform movement which swept over Europe in the eleventh
century, and from that movement drew in so much force and energy that it
became the greatest power in Europe, and was enabled finally to
overthrow the Empire.
This tide of reform arose at Cluny, a little place in Burgundy, and
began as a monastic reform. All over Christendom monasteries had grown
rich and prosperous; many monks had forsaken Benedict's rule, had broken
their vows and lived with wives and children upon revenues intended for
other purposes. Other monks hated this evil conduct, and burning with a
passionate desire to stop it, started a great movement of monastic
reform. The reform was ascetic in character, as a moral emotion in those
days was bound to be. The first reformers gathered at Cluny, about the
beginning of the tenth century. From there disciples went far and wide,
purging old monasteries and founding new. After a time the reformers
passed beyond the early stage of mere moral revolt against godless
living, formed a party, and put forward a creed. The party represented
antagonism to the world, pitted saints against sinners, the Church
against the State. The creed had three tenets. No ecclesiasts should
marry, and married men upon ordination should live apart from their
wives. No bribery, no corrupt bargain, should taint the appointment and
installation of clergy, high or low. No layman should meddle with the
entry of bishops upon their episcopal office. These three tenets roused
bitter opposition. Celibacy of the clergy had been a rule of Church
discipline since early days, and from time to time efforts had been made
to enforce the practice, but it had fallen into general disregard. A
celibate clergy, with no affections or interests nearer or dearer than
the Church, would be a tremendous ecclesiastical force, and far-sighted
Popes always sought to enforce the rule. Necessarily the married clergy
and many clerical bachelors were violent in opposition. The article
against simony nobody openly gainsaid; but many bishops and abbots had
obtained their offices by corrupt practices, and many nobles looked
forward to rich livings and high ecclesiastical places; both classes
opposed a change. The third article, against lay investiture of bishops,
which was to be the cause of deadly war between Empire and Papacy, was a
logical conclusion from the article against simony; for it was hard to
suppose that in the appointment of bishops, kings and princes would
disregard all worldly motives and appoint men solely for the good of
souls. On the other hand, the great bishoprics and abbeys were among the
most important fiefs in a king's gift, and carried with them feudal
privileges of sovereignty, such as rights of coinage, toll, holding
courts, etc.; in short, they were mere secular fiefs with ecclesiastical
prerogatives added. It was natural that the German Emperors should claim
the right to appoint and invest these spiritual barons, and insist that
their episcopal territories should be subject to the same feudal
obligations and the same civic duties as the territories granted to lay
barons. This third article was a direct attack on the civil power. If
all Imperial participation were to be stricken out, and bishops put into
possession of their fiefs solely by the Pope, then vast territories,
estimated to be nearly half the Empire, would be withdrawn from civic
obligations, even from military service, and the Pope, ousting the
Emperor, would become monarch of half the Imperial domains. According to
the canons of the Church, the clergy and the people of the diocese
elected the bishop, and the Church bestowed on him ring and staff, the
signs of episcopal office. The trouble arose over the fief. In feudal
times the kings had enfeoffed bishops with great fiefs in order to
counterbalance the insubordinate secular lords, and because, in
episcopal hands, these fiefs did not become hereditary. When the
reformers took the matter up, they found that in practice the kings did
not wait for a canonical election of episcopal candidates, but invested
their henchmen in return for money or some service which had no savour
of sanctity. The episcopal office, as St. Peter Damian complained, was
got "by flattering the king, studying his inclination, obeying his beck,
applauding every word that fell from his mouth, by acting the parasite
and playing the buffoon." The real difficulty lay in the double nature
of the episcopal office, half ecclesiastical and half feudal; and, like
other great political difficulties, would not yield to a peaceful
solution, until there had been a trial of strength between the
discordant interests.
The first consequence, however, of the reforming spirit was to ennoble
the whole Church, to purify her members, and animate them with a common
zeal, and to uplift her head, the Papacy. It carried on, in a larger way
and with a greater sweep, the work of ecclesiastical reformation begun
by the intervention of the Emperors in the election of Popes, and gave a
loftier tone to European politics.
FOOTNOTES:
[8] _Le cronache italiane del medio evo descritte_, Balzani, p. 123.